Critical Analysis of Television Commercials How to:
First, summarize the commercial. Then, analyze it. Consider these questions in your analysis:
Who is the audience (beyond watchers of the Super Bowl)?
What is said?
How is it being said?
Why is it being said this way?
Can you compare it with something else?
Don't remove the video of the commercial. Other than that, you may modify this page in any way you choose. This is a collaborative assignment (see Jon Udell's Heavy Metal Umlaut). Process Work points will be awarded to those who create and edit content. Those who do not will receive 0 on the assignment.
Silverado Apocalypse
Summary:
The Mayan Doomsday has set upon a former metropolitan area where a man and his dog appear as their Chevy truck's headlights shine through the rumble. He drives through the city in his Chevy Silverado, while an uplifting song provides contrast to the desolate background. He drives until he meets friends who also drive Chevy Silverados. The man asks where his friend Dave is and his other friend replies solemnly "Dave didn't drive the longest lasting, most durable truck on the road...he drove a Ford."
Audience:
The audience is basically everyone who is looking to buy a car, this could range from young 16 year old boys who want a big A truck, or parents who want a durable truck for their reckless children. Ford owners are directly targeted in this commercial.
Analysis:
Set in apocalyptic America, Chevy's commercial shows you why it's better to own a Silverado. Chevy implies that their trucks are built to last longer than any other truck on the market. We don't know exactly what caused the doomsday to prove or disprove Chevy's claim. Chevy does specifically attack Ford in the commercial when the guy towards the end of the commercial says that Dave is dead because he drove a Ford. This is to convince consumers to buy a Chevy and specifically not drive a Ford truck. They do this by showing that it could survive an apocalypse, and including their slogan that Chevy's are the "longest lasting, most durable, and most dependable truck on the road" and "From the beginning of your work day to the end of the world, Chevy runs deep." Chevy wants you to know that when the end of the world comes, you'd better be driving their truck, that's only if you want to survive. The actors in this commercial portray regular people. No movie stars or famous people survived the end of the world, which shows that the producers are trying to say that only driving a Chevy will help you live past doomsday.
The main point that the writers are trying to make clear to the audience is that thier brand of trucks are very strong and will last through the toughest of situations. The main point is hard to determine if it is logical becuase they place the scene as a post apocalyptic America and if an end of the world diaster occurs, then no human being will be around to see if the Chevy truck survives. The commercial supports the main point by having only drivers of Chevy trucks survive their screen made apocalypse and have the actors point out that a friend who did not drive a Chevy passed with the rest of the human race. The producers assume the TV watchers know about the looming Mayan Apocalypse which is to occur on December 21,2012. The illusion to the "doomsday" add to the commercial because it is viewed by some as the ulimate end of the human race and the producers play on the human's instictual fear of death. A reference to Ford trucks are made at the end of the commercial, the reference insults the durablity of Ford trucks by saying that the man who drove a Ford did not survive the apocalypse. The producers want the commercial to push the audience to contemplate buying their truck versus a competitior. The wtiters and producers are clearly for the sale of Chevy Silverados, and they seem very confident in the belief that it can survive anything. Though the audience does not get to hear the authors say this, it is clear through the situation the authors place the truck in. The brand of Chevy trucks have been around since 1913, and so a truck brand that has been around appears to be pretty reliable.
The producers most likely included this to add comic relief and an uplifting mood to the triumph of a man and his dog surviving the end of the world.
References:There are many funny references in the commercial that related to other apocalyptic movies and also theories.
Transformers: While driving through the town there is a shot where he passes a Decipticon head which relates to the movie where the end of the world was caused by robots from another planet.
Aliens: A UFO is seen crashed into the earth which is a reference to the end of the world caused by aliens. The ideas of aliens has been a thought among many Americans for many decades.
The Twinkies:When all of the guys were together one of the guys has a box of Twinkies which is in reference to the movie Zombieland where Woody Harrelson's character "Tallahassee" is obsessed with finding Twinkies because they supposedly never go bad, thus being a perfect post-apocalyptic snack.
2012 movie
This movie also makes references to Mayan culture and people end up surviving. It's clear in the commercial that seismic activity has occurred and this also happens in the movie.
Book of Revelation: It is obvious that the commercial depicts the end of the world but some would say from reading the bible, specifically the Book of Revelation, that the four trucks meeting up depict the four horsemen of the apocalypse: Conquest, War, Famine Death.
Without going into too much detail:
The driver of white truck symbolizes the Ride of the White Horse (Conquest)
The driver of the red truck who announces the death of Dave is possibly referring to King David (War)
The driver of the black truck offers the other guy Twinkies (Famine)
The guy of the older stepside truck who is silent represents the Rider of the Pale Horse (Death)
Random Facts!
Fun Fact: Ford was not too happy with the direct threat and requested GM to remove the ad before the Superbowl.
GM Global Chief Marketing Officer Joel Ewanick replied by saying: "We stand by our claims in the commercial, that the Silverado is the mostdependable, longest-lasting full-size pickup on the road. We can wait until theworld ends, and if we need to, we will apologize. In the meantime,people who are really worried about the Mayan calendar coming trueshould buy a Silverado right away."
How to:
First, summarize the commercial. Then, analyze it. Consider these questions in your analysis:
Don't remove the video of the commercial. Other than that, you may modify this page in any way you choose. This is a collaborative assignment (see Jon Udell's Heavy Metal Umlaut). Process Work points will be awarded to those who create and edit content. Those who do not will receive 0 on the assignment.
Silverado Apocalypse
Summary:
The Mayan Doomsday has set upon a former metropolitan area where a man and his dog appear as their Chevy truck's headlights shine through the rumble. He drives through the city in his Chevy Silverado, while an uplifting song provides contrast to the desolate background. He drives until he meets friends who also drive Chevy Silverados. The man asks where his friend Dave is and his other friend replies solemnly "Dave didn't drive the longest lasting, most durable truck on the road...he drove a Ford."
Audience:
The audience is basically everyone who is looking to buy a car, this could range from young 16 year old boys who want a big A truck, or parents who want a durable truck for their reckless children. Ford owners are directly targeted in this commercial.
Analysis:
Set in apocalyptic America, Chevy's commercial shows you why it's better to own a Silverado. Chevy implies that their trucks are built to last longer than any other truck on the market. We don't know exactly what caused the doomsday to prove or disprove Chevy's claim. Chevy does specifically attack Ford in the commercial when the guy towards the end of the commercial says that Dave is dead because he drove a Ford. This is to convince consumers to buy a Chevy and specifically not drive a Ford truck. They do this by showing that it could survive an apocalypse, and including their slogan that Chevy's are the "longest lasting, most durable, and most dependable truck on the road" and "From the beginning of your work day to the end of the world, Chevy runs deep." Chevy wants you to know that when the end of the world comes, you'd better be driving their truck, that's only if you want to survive. The actors in this commercial portray regular people. No movie stars or famous people survived the end of the world, which shows that the producers are trying to say that only driving a Chevy will help you live past doomsday.
The main point that the writers are trying to make clear to the audience is that thier brand of trucks are very strong and will last through the toughest of situations. The main point is hard to determine if it is logical becuase they place the scene as a post apocalyptic America and if an end of the world diaster occurs, then no human being will be around to see if the Chevy truck survives. The commercial supports the main point by having only drivers of Chevy trucks survive their screen made apocalypse and have the actors point out that a friend who did not drive a Chevy passed with the rest of the human race. The producers assume the TV watchers know about the looming Mayan Apocalypse which is to occur on December 21,2012. The illusion to the "doomsday" add to the commercial because it is viewed by some as the ulimate end of the human race and the producers play on the human's instictual fear of death. A reference to Ford trucks are made at the end of the commercial, the reference insults the durablity of Ford trucks by saying that the man who drove a Ford did not survive the apocalypse. The producers want the commercial to push the audience to contemplate buying their truck versus a competitior. The wtiters and producers are clearly for the sale of Chevy Silverados, and they seem very confident in the belief that it can survive anything. Though the audience does not get to hear the authors say this, it is clear through the situation the authors place the truck in. The brand of Chevy trucks have been around since 1913, and so a truck brand that has been around appears to be pretty reliable.
References:There are many funny references in the commercial that related to other apocalyptic movies and also theories.
This movie also makes references to Mayan culture and people end up surviving. It's clear in the commercial that seismic activity has occurred and this also happens in the movie.
- Book of Revelation: It is obvious that the commercial depicts the end of the world but some would say from reading the bible, specifically the Book of Revelation, that the four trucks meeting up depict the four horsemen of the apocalypse: Conquest, War, Famine Death.
- Without going into too much detail:
- The driver of white truck symbolizes the Ride of the White Horse (Conquest)
- The driver of the red truck who announces the death of Dave is possibly referring to King David (War)
- The driver of the black truck offers the other guy Twinkies (Famine)
- The guy of the older stepside truck who is silent represents the Rider of the Pale Horse (Death)
Random Facts!